Month: June 2014
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We’re honored and amazed by the outpouring of interest we’ve received from producers, creatives, clients and companies. We’re working as fast as we can to get through our submission list, so if we didn’t get to you this week, check back in the near future.

We wanted to create a true boutique in which the entire studio focuses on a handful of projects only. There is value in having a small group focus intently on a client’s business directives, a more human process that is often lost in larger companies. Our backgrounds are in technology and we wanted to test the boundaries of what a handful of folks can do when clients demand big creative products like live-action commercials and intense visual effects.

How did the partners meet?

Iron Claw was founded by executive producer Greg Talmage and creative director Sean Koriakin. Having met as coworkers at Imaginary Forces, the two started the company in 2008.

What was the first job someone hired you for?

We created a Nike piece for the Jordan Brand that got us moving. It was an inspirational piece for our client at Nike and helped us gather steam to move ahead and gain momentum.

What was the most technically challenging work you’ve created?

We created animations for a custom physical installation at DirecTV that challenged us in many ways. Not only was the format entirely invented, a complex LED display playing in an immersive physical space, but the color and lighting had to be adjusted by walking through the experience, ensuring it not only looked great, but felt great. We interfaced with the architects and did a lot of R&D.

Which work or brand are you best known for?

As a studio, I think our most recognized work is the 2011 Emmy winning Sunday night football open for NBC Sports.

Which project is your most underrated?

We did visual effects for season 3 of Comedy Central’s Key & Peele. The work was a bit out of the box in terms of our core business, but as a studio we love the show and think those guys are genius!

What is the smartest work you’ve seen in the past year that didn’t come from your shop?

We’re in a such an exciting time. While expectations run so high in the industry, the quality of the work today is really unbelievable and extremely inspiring. There are the prominent heavy hitters out there that really push the technical and creative envelopes, like Psyop or the Mill as a shortlist example. A studio that put a smile on my face this year was Antibody. Beyond the True Detective title sequence, Antibody’s sense of visual communication has revived the classic idea and value of motion graphics.

How has the business changed since you started?

3,000% more demanding! The market has low barriers for entry and a lot of folks joining in. This means clients want what they see out there, no matter the budget range. The good thing is we get better with time as well!

What emerging tech trend will have the biggest impact on your business?

VOD is huge. It means a lot to different people, but to us it means there is more focus on television and promotion of TV. Integration of traditional marketing techniques with digital initiatives is key to a new series being successful.

What advice do you have for agency producers or creatives?

Don’t look past the boutiques, we provide way better customer service than the big boys. It’s why Iron Claw has so many repeat customers.

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The partner spotlight is a weekly series where we go behind the scenes with some of the companies that make VendorDB great. Next up is STOPP!

Apoteket Hjärtat – Blowing in the wind – Modified Clear Channel’s Play screens in the subway. The mission was to capture the effect of the turbulence from the train and make it look like the models hair on the screen was caught by the breeze.

The Vitals

Name: STOPP

Locations: Los Angeles, New York, London & Stockholm

Year Founded: 1992

Specialties: We create compelling brand experiences. We’re a collective of artists, writers, designers, filmmakers, producers, technologists, developers and engineers with a passion for telling innovative stories in a multitude of mediums.

Why LA?

We opened our first U.S office in LA in 2008. Los Angeles has always been the mecca for film, but not so much for interactive/digital. We saw an opportunity to blend these two disciplines for the US market. Also, the competition was very low at the time when we launched. Today I think there are 4 of us Swedish shops all in Venice… We Swedes don’t get much sun, so to live and work blocks from the beach seems to make a lot of sense. We’ve since expanded to New York and London as many of our clients are based there.

What was the most technically challenging work you’ve created?

Technically challenging work is what we are passionate about, it’s the core of our business. One project that is up there is the ‘Hello, Again’ project with Beck and Chris Milk. We were fortunate to work on something that’s never been done before. Pushing the boundaries in technology and storytelling is what gets us really excited.

What is the smartest work you’ve seen in the past year that didn’t come from your shop?

What emerging tech trend will have the biggest impact on your business?

Virtual Reality.

What is the best thing about working at STOPP?

Working on some of the most creative and technically challenging projects in the world and shaping how technology is used in storytelling and entertainment.

Where is the best bar in LA?

Our refrigerator.

Any wild company party stories?

On a night out with clients, our CEO (Fredrik) and Creative Director (Zach) got into a fight with some fellow Swedes at a nightclub in Hollywood. Fredrik was escorted out of the club by four bouncers; one on each limb. The next day, everyone realized that we knew each other (Sweden is a small place) and we all hugged and made up.

Care to share a joke?

My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana, but I said “No… but I want a regular banana later, so yeah.” – Mitch Hedberg r.i.p.

Hello again is an audio visual experiment that Stopp created with Chris Milk that re-imagines how a live performance can be experienced. We were part of the team that helped invent new technologies like 360-binaural audio recording, 360 video and facial tracking. The Experience has since been ported to the Oculus Rift, in-turn becoming the world’s first live-action virtual reality film. It premiered at Sundance and has since been shown at Tribeca Film Festival and SXSW.

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The partner spotlight is a weekly series where we go behind the scenes with some of the companies that make VendorDB great. Next up is Caviar!

The Vitals

Name: Caviar

Locations: Los Angeles, Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, Paris, London

Year Founded: 2004

Specialties: commercial, music video, film, branded content, television production

What inspired you to start your company?

Caviar began as a merger of two production companies – Roses are Blue, Caviar CEO Bert Hamelnick’s company, and Pix and Motion, which was owned by the Belgian media group Corelio. The reason we did the deal is that while we had a very successful commercial business, we were already thinking about the future and the fact that there were big changes happening in the industry. We knew that producing our own content would become a very important part, and that by merging we could focus on film and TV as well.

How did the partners meet?

Around 2002 Bert came to LA to shoot a commercial, and Michael Sagol, the partner who now runs Caviar LA, was then advertising in Europe offering a service for European companies who wanted to shoot here. The two got on great, and Sagol wanted to move more into production. Bert felt that by coming from a small country like Belgium, it’s always difficult to grow in Europe and the UK, so he suggested Michael take several of our top directors and sell them here instead. Needless to say, the plan worked. In 2010, Caviar welcomed current EP and Managing partner Jasper Thomlinson to the team after having worked as a freelance producer exclusively with Caviar for several years prior.

What emerging tech trend will have the biggest impact on your business?

Branded Content has been a big one, with focus now being put on non-broadcast multi-platform storytelling that organically integrates a client’s brand identity, we’ve had to shift gears and adapt. Which we have done-so successfully by creating branded content for brands such as Ford, Nowness.com, GQ to name a few.

Why Hollywood?

Earlier this year we moved from our offices in mid-wilshire and relocated to what used to the the Wells Fargo building next to the Arclight theater. We opted to move to Hollywood for several reasons. We looked at a lot of buildings, all over town, and we loved this location and the fact we could take an empty space and put our own identity on it. Is it a gamble? Not really, as Caviar has always been successful by not doing what everyone else is. And while there are other companies that might be similar to us, they’re either very successful in the US with a smaller operation in Europe, or vice versa. But we have two very strong bases, in both America and Europe. We threw a party to celebrate our opening which wound up hosting 1400 people in the industry!

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The partner spotlight is a weekly series where we go behind the scenes with some of the companies that make VendorDB great. Next up is Pre-Future!

The Vitals

Name: Pre-Future

Location: San Francisco

Year Founded: 2011

Specialties: Digital storytellers for the modern adventurer.

What inspired you to start your company?

Pre-Future was formed initially as a collective of media creationists who saw how the media production model was changing from expensive large scale singular focused companies into the more “all in one” model.

What was the first job someone hired you for?

Yahoo hired us to create a film for their Cannes presentation. It was a great project on two street artists painting on enormous yahoo exclamation marks.

Which work or brand are you best known for?

The film that gets the most attention is actually one we made just for us ‘Summer In San Francisco‘. I used to own a 1964 Falcon but through a series of life events I had to sell the old girl. On the last day I was to own her, we loaded up with cameras and spent the afternoon driving around San Francisco. The result is a really beautiful ‘slice of life’ film.

Which project is your most underrated?

I am not sure if it’s underrated but the project I am most proud of is a mini-doc we did ‘Sams Day‘. It was an incredible experience that forever changed us all.

What is the smartest work you’ve seen in the past year that didn’t come from your shop?

Hands down it has to be the projection mapping piece from Bot and Dolly. It’s unbelievably great.

How has the business changed since you started?

Big shops are dying so rapidly yet there is more demand for video then ever before.

What emerging tech trend will have the biggest impact on your business?

If you can’t multitask these days, you won’t survive. As an editor I am now expected to know an enormous amount of software.

What advice do you have for agency producers or creatives?

Let people do the job you have hired them for. Don’t micro-manage and mostly, don’t expect people to work for free just for the honor of working with you.

What is the best thing about working at Pre-Future?

The team. I am lucky to be amongst people who are as passionate about what they do as the day they started. We all love what we do for a living and couldn’t do anything else.

We also added some gems that could be just what you need for your next project including Mr. GIF (super fun animated GIFs), Mapbox (open source mapping platform) and Zazzle (custom on-demand products).